North Sea firm fined £300k after workers descended into water-filled lift in 'terrifying' incident
The horrifying incident happened on a floating platform in the North Sea during a night shift.
An oil and gas operator has been fined £300,000 after three crew members descended into a water-filled lift shaft.
The horrifying incident happened on a floating platform in the North Sea during a night shift on December 10, 2020.
It caused the workers - who had been descending in a lift located in one of the platform legs on the FPF-1 facility - to become partially submerged.
The water started to flood into the lift before they reached the bottom of the shaft, with the trio knee-deep in water by the time the lift was able to be stopped via the emergency button.
On Thursday, June 12, Ithaca Energy (UK) Limited - the owner of FPF-1 - pled guilty to safety failings at a hearing at Aberdeen Sheriff Court.
As reported by Aberdeen Live, an investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found the three men had been tasked with carrying out inspection work at the base of one of the facility's sub-sea columns.
During preparations to clear the inspection site of standing water beforehand, the bottom of the lift shaft began to fill with water due to failings of hardware and incorrect operating procedures. A lack of water alarms in the bottom of the lift shaft meant the control room was unaware that water was filling the shaft.
As the three men descended in the lift, they experienced a 'rush of air' before their fears of something being wrong were confirmed when the base of the lift made contact with the water. The three men were able to press an emergency stop button and returned safely to the main deck, with none of them sustaining any injuries.
The investigation found that water marks on the lift door revealed it had reached a level of just under 1.5 metres before the lift was stopped and returned to surface.
Ithaca's own investigation determined that the water level could have actually reached more than three metres.
This meant the men would have found it difficult to escape through the top hatch of the lift if the workers had used the lift later and/or had not been successful in bringing the lift to a halt immediately.
HSE issued Ithaca with an improvement notice and work in confined spaces was stopped by the company until February 2021 to allow a full review to take place.
HSE inspector Ian Chilley said: 'This was a terrifying incident for the workers involved, we are just thankful that no physical harm came to them.
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'This fine should send a message and reminder to those operating offshore facilities for them to be extra vigilant.
'It was only a matter of good fortune that this incident didn't result in serious injury, or worse.'
When passing sentence, the sheriff observed the case marked "another reminder of the need for rigorous adherence to health and safety in the oil and gas industry".
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